Established in 2001 and made possible by a gift from the DuPonts, the award recognizes and preserves the essence and quality of the master clinical teacher, reflecting the Medical School’s top priority of quality clinical medical education.

“I was pretty sure someone had made a mistake,” Hormann said when notified of the award. “The list of past recipients has so many examples of incredible clinician educators, many of whom I had learned from; I didn’t (and still don’t) consider myself part of that august group. I didn’t even tell my wife about the award until I had the letter from Dr. Colasurdo in my hand.”

A graduate of the Medical School, Class of ’93, Hormann also completed his residency in pediatrics here.

“My most comfortable mode of teaching is in a small group standing next to a patient,” he said. “The back-and-forth dialog with the learner lets me know that they actually understand what we are discussing. That’s why I really, really dislike giving straight lectures– it is very difficult to see that you have engaged your audience and that they ‘get’ the topic.”

Hormann joined the Medical School faculty in 1997 as an assistant professor of pediatrics. He has served as director of medical student education for the department since 1998 and has been the director of the pediatric residency program since 2013. He is on active staff at LBJ General Hospital, Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital, and Shriner’s Hospitals for Children Houston.

“Most of my clinical time is spent in the well-baby nursery at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital. I love working in that environment with a small group of learners, talking with new families, and making them comfortable with their newborns while at the same time teaching students and residents all the odd physical findings and conditions unique to that population,” he explained.

Hormann said that the role of clinician-educators is a great responsibility.

“Not only do we have an obligation to our patients to give them the best care we possibly can, but we also are tasked with readying the next generation of competent and caring physicians,” he said. “That dual role is extremely difficult to balance, but it is what I really enjoy about academic medicine.”